Bairaktarova Diana, Woodcock Anna
Department of Engineering Education, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Engineering Education (0218), Goodwin Hall, Room 367, 635 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, CA, USA.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2017 Aug;23(4):1129-1157. doi: 10.1007/s11948-016-9814-x. Epub 2016 Oct 17.
Professional communities are experiencing scandals involving unethical and illegal practices daily. Yet it should not take a national major structure failure to highlight the importance of ethical awareness and behavior, or the need for the development and practice of ethical behavior in engineering students. Development of ethical behavior skills in future engineers is a key competency for engineering schools as ethical behavior is a part of the professional identity and practice of engineers. While engineering educators have somewhat established instructional methods to teach engineering ethics, they still rely heavily on teaching ethical awareness, and pay little attention to how well ethical awareness predicts ethical behavior. However the ability to exercise ethical judgement does not mean that students are ethically educated or likely to behave in an ethical manner. This paper argues measuring ethical judgment is insufficient for evaluating the teaching of engineering ethics, because ethical awareness has not been demonstrated to translate into ethical behavior. The focus of this paper is to propose a model that correlates with both, ethical awareness and ethical behavior. This model integrates the theory of planned behavior, person and thing orientation, and spheres of control. Applying this model will allow educators to build confidence and trust in their students' ability to build a professional identity and be prepared for the engineering profession and practice.
专业团体每天都在经历涉及不道德和非法行为的丑闻。然而，不应该等到国家层面出现重大结构故障才去凸显道德意识和行为的重要性，或者才意识到工科学生培养和践行道德行为的必要性。培养未来工程师的道德行为技能是工程学院的一项关键能力，因为道德行为是工程师职业身份和实践的一部分。虽然工程教育工作者已经在一定程度上确立了教授工程伦理的教学方法，但他们仍然严重依赖于传授道德意识，而很少关注道德意识对道德行为的预测程度。然而，具备进行道德判断的能力并不意味着学生接受了道德教育，或者有可能以道德的方式行事。本文认为，衡量道德判断对于评估工程伦理教学是不够的，因为尚未证明道德意识能转化为道德行为。本文的重点是提出一个将道德意识和道德行为联系起来的模型。该模型整合了计划行为理论、人与物导向以及控制范围。应用这个模型将使教育工作者对学生构建职业身份、为工程职业和实践做好准备的能力建立信心和信任。
